Where do I start ?

I’m just finishing up a 30+ years in the fire service and am interested in becoming a home inspector. Could someone advise me on what steps to take to become : a) educated b) certified. I have taken 2 of the free courses offered by Nachi.
Thanks

Keep going until your finish about 200 Hrs than after this add a** Proctored Exam** from an association so you have proof of your knowledge. Go over all the steps set out under the tips for success on this site and get mentored with a CMI not in your immediate area.
You will need about 25 Onsite inspections to be fully recognized. This can very with where you are from so this is the first thing we need to know about you, please fill out your Profile info.

Your FIRST step is to see what requirements (if any) your Province requires of you. Where are you located at?

If you are in Alberta go to our Alberta Chapter web site at http://ab.nachi.org/albertanachi/albertanachi1105.html under the CCHI heading.
The process in detailed here and is a good starting model to follow in other jurisdictions. Access to all the courses are available to Members of InterNACHI. The proctored final exams and peer reviews are provided by AlbertaNACHI and our members.
Only in Alberta Can the CCHI designation be earned at the present time.
We are working on establishing this designation across Canada.

I thought I would throw this back up to remind those of the group fighting back against what Vern Mitchinson has accomplished with help of InterNachi. We plan to do the same soon.
http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2955272&archive=true
Mike Holmes visits Sault College for home inspection course announcement
By Frank Dobrovnik
Updated 1 year ago
Sault College is making it right. The school will soon offer the province’s first two-year home inspection diploma program, with the blessing of Mike Holmes.

The home contractor-turned TV show host (Holmes on Homes) was in Sault Ste. Marie Monday to help announce the Home Inspection Technician (Co-op) program. Students will gain knowledge and practical skills relating to home construction through classroom, laboratory and workshop learning.

"Most inspectors are honest — they just don’t know enough," said Holmes, who was featured in a segment of Marketplace last year on dishonest home builders.

“They need better tools, better education.”

The program also includes a co-op work placement to ensure graduates have relevant work experience that complements their classroom studies. By the end of it, grads will have the ability to recognize deficiencies in the structural components, exteriors, roofs, plumbing, electrical systems, heating systems, ventilation and air conditioning systems, insulation and interiors of residential homes.

“When you learn to install something, you’re in a better position to inspect someone else’s work,” said Colin Kirkwood, dean of the program.

Up to now, the only training one could get was from the home inspector association, and even that isn’t requisite to hang a shingle, said Kirkwood, a mechanical engineer. “You can take a few courses and call yourself a home inspector.”

Other than word of mouth, a prospective home owner has no other guarantee the home inspector they hire is competent. Now, “You can have confidence our students have actually gone through the process of learning how to inspect a house,” he said.

Classes begin in September. The school is planning for 18 students initially.

School president Ron Common said the college, which is establishing itself as the go-to place for skilled trades training, and the Holmes Group created the program mutually. In 10 years an expected 1.1 million Ontarians will be out of work, “while at the same time there will be 1.3 million jobs going unfilled because there aren’t skilled tradespeople to fill them,” Common said.

“Ontario is facing a chronic skills shortage.”

In 2009 Holmes launched his onw home inspection service, Mike Holmes Inspections, and a new series that profiles home inspections gone wrong, Holmes Inspections, airing on HGTV in Canada.

Holmes, 47, told a packed gymnasium that when he started in the field hiring a home inspector was an exercise in frustration. “The expectation was that you were going to get screwed, that it was going to be a total nightmare.”

While things gave improved, even today, "There are only a few that really know what they’re doing."

I’ve signed up as a student ,how quickly do I have to have the course done?

Take all the time you need.

Great thing about InterNACHI’s online video courses… you can go as fast or slow as you like. Read: http://www.nachi.org/classroomsharm.htm

I never thought I would see it but “Mike Holmes Inspection” is advertising in SSM but does not serve this area. I can only think that he has picked up a ringer to start here.
Actually he comes up a search on Google in SSM so he may not have an Inspector here.